In the science fiction space drama,
The Expanse, we travel hundreds of years into the
future to a time in which humans have colonized the solar system.
The U.N.
controls Earth, but
Mars is an independent military power and all of the
colonized planets rely on the resources found in the Asteroid Belt. Tensions
have been rising between Earth, Mars and the Belt for years and now, a single
incident could bring about the tides of war.

The
musical score of The Expanse was created by Canadian film composer
Clinton Shorter who fell in love with music at a young age. In high school,
discovering that the school he was going to did not have a recording studio, he
transferred to another that did, spending most of his time there. In college,
Shorter began work on a music major with a specialty in jazz, but left to write
music with an experimental rock trio. Over the years, Shorter developed a love
for film music, inspired by Mark Isham’s score for Never Cry Wolf. Landing a
job as an assistant to a Canadian film and television composer, Clinton went on
to create a number of his own television and film scores, including those for Come Together,
District 9,
Contraband,
2 Guns,
Pompeii,
Intelligence,
House of Lies,
Code Black and
Colony.

The score
for The Expanse is mainly electronic with some orchestral sound mixed
in. The action sequences of the series are fast-paced and feature heavy
percussion. Non-action sequences are softer and feature either somber or
ominous undertones. Having watched some of the series, I can honestly say that
these notes for the moments in which action is not a factor are subtle and do
quite a bit to enhance the emotional drama of these sequences.

Though I
think that the score works well with the visuals of The Expanse, the
truth of the matter is that this score may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Fans
of the series might want to get their hands on it, but the score isn’t that
incredibly exciting and so, they may not be thus inspired to purchase the score
outright. Folks who are not fans of the series are likely to skip this
soundtrack altogether.